David Benyamine (above right), continues his assault on 2008 WSOP POY honors as he’s among the chip leaders in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event.

After a few days of downtime, the hype/action/buzz returned to the 2008 WSOP yesterday with the start of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. The Rio Amazon Room was packed with newly arrived so-called poker "media,"
railbirds, fanboys, and industry types. Action for the H.O.R.S.E. event picks up again today at 3pm.

:: Event #42 ($1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold’em) – Whatever.

:: Event #43 ($1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo) - The big story here is that Erik Seidel is making his second run at bracelet #9 this year. Seidel is stacked second overall with 340,000. He only trails Jon Maren (377,000), who you’ve likely discerned then must be the chip leader. Also in contention is Casey Kastle (188,000), who joins Shannon Shorr as the two dudes on the circuit with the best hot porn star sounding names. Let’s just say if we saw a DVD called "Girl-Girl-Guy Threesomes Galore! (43)" starring Casey Kastle, Shannon Shorr, and Brock Parker, we probably wouldn’t even do a double-take. Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #44 ($1,000 No Limit Hold’em w/ Rebuys) - 115 remain of the original 879, and with all the rebuys, first place with pay $693,444. Jamel Maistriaux ended Day 1 as chip leader, stacked at 169,300. Big name big stacks remaining include Mark Seif (133,000), Joe Tehan, whose name sounds too much like "Tehran" for our liking (108,200), and the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (54,900). Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #45 ($50,000 H.O.R.S.E) - The big one. The event everyone was waiting for and the title the pros most want to claim. Each table is stacked with a who’s who of poker greats. Surely the event will continue the trend this year that we exclusively trademarked as The Year of the Pro^TM. Frightening the competition with fearlessness that could only be accomplished by someone lacking a soul is James "mig dot com" Mackey, a ginger, with 214,000. With 140 of the initial 148 remaining, and with virtually every person in the field someone that you’ve heard of, it’d be, as Dr. Pauly would say, "redunkulous" to list all the notables. But we will mention that Phil Hellmuth, seen here talking about the bad WSOP he’s having right before the event began, was one of the eight eliminated on Day 1. Also, the four pros most likely to claim 2008 WSOP POY honors (and solidify this year as the Year of the Pro), Erick Lindgren, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, and David Benyamine, are all above averaged stacked going into Day 2. Get full chip counts here.

After the jump, a photo of the fantastically stacked and looking-better-than-ever Isabelle Mercier next to Dario Minieri. Mercier seriously looks like that hot teacher everyone wanted to bang in 9th grade and Dario like the student who gets a little too nervous around her. Also after the jump is possibly the best photo we’ve ever taken of Tom Schneider.

Tagged as: 2008 WSOP, Daniel Negreanu, Dario Minieri, Erick Lindgren., Erik Seidel, isabelle mercier, j.c. tran, Phil Hellmuth, world series of poker

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